A virtual network combines hardware and software network resources and network functionality into a single, software-based administrative entity. Virtual networking uses shared infrastructure that supports multiple services for multiple offerings.
Network virtualization requires moving from dedicated hardware to virtualized software instances to implement network functions. Those functions include control plane functions like domain name servers (DNS), Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and router reflectors. The functions also include data plane functions like secure gateways (GW), virtual private networks (VPN) and firewalls.
The rapid growth of network function virtualization (NFV), combined with the shift to the cloud computing paradigm, has led to the establishment of large-scale software-defined networks (SDN) in the IT industry. Due to the increasing size and complexity of multi-cloud SDN infrastructure, a technique is needed for self-healing & dynamic optimization of VM server cluster management in the SDN ecosystem to achieve high and stable performance of cloud services.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures.